Tariq Lamptey voted WAB September 2020 Brighton Player of the Month

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

In news that will come as a shock to absolutely nobody, Tariq Lamptey has been voted as our WeAreBrighton.com September 2020 Brighton Player of the Month.

The young right back was absolutely outstanding in the Albion’s opening three Premier League games of the 2020-21 season. So good was his form that he was nominated for Premier League Player of the Month, made his England Under 21 debut and was even linked with a move to European Champions Bayern Munich.

Lamptey began September by showing Chelsea what they had lost with an excellent performance even as Brighton were beaten 3-1 by the Blues.

It was in the Albion’s 3-0 win at Newcastle United that Lamptey really caught the eye though as the rest of the nation seemed to suddenly wake up to the talents Seagulls supporters already knew he possessed after he had won July’s Player of the Month award at the backend of the 2019-20 season.

Lamptey played a part in the first two goals scored by the Albion and his frequent forays resulted in first half booking for Lord Voldermort look-a-like Jonjo Shelvey and Allan Saint-Maximin.

Saint-Maximin had to be withdrawn at the break by Steve Bruce because of the torrid time that Lamptey gave him in just 45 minutes. Graham Potter hauled Lamptey just prior to the hour mark to protect his young superstar as Newcastle turned to increasingly desperate and violent attempts to halt the right back.

Not even his early departure from the action could prevent Lamptey winning Sky Sports’ Man-of-the-Match. It felt like a star had been born in just one half of football at St James’ Park.

Lamptey was by now a marked man and that understandably led to him having a quieter afternoon in Brighton’s third Premier League against Manchester United.

And whilst United concentrated so much on Lamptey, that allowed Solly March out on the left flank to give one of his best performances as a Premier League player.

March had a good month all round which was enough to see him finished second behind Lamptey in our September 2020 Brighton Player of the Month poll.

He scored against United in a Man-of-the-Match performance and was also on song in the Newcastle and Chelsea games. What makes March finishing second in the vote all the more remarkable is that when Dale Stephens was sold to Burnley, March was odds on favourite to take over as the boo boys new favourite.

Instead, he has been the major beneficiary of Potter’s switch to a 3-4-1-2 formation. March has looked completely at home at left wing back to the point that all the while Potter sticks with his new system, March will surely be one of the first names on the team sheet.

There was a tight battle for third with Leandro Trossard, Neal Maupay and Yves Bissouma all in contention. In the end, it was Bissouma who just snuck it despite having been sent off at St James’ Park.

Bissouma’s red card on Tyneside was careless rather than malicious as he naively raised his boot to head height in a piece of pretty impressive gymnastics.

Unfortunately for Bissouma, his elasticated body served to kick Jamal Lewis straight in the face rather than the ball. Copying Shawn Michaels’ signature Sweet Chin Music is something which isn’t allowed in the rules of association football and so Bissouma saw red.

Prior to that transgression, he had been excellent in the win over Newcastle and the defeat to Chelsea, with two dominating performances in the holding midfield role.

That continued the form he showed post-lockdown in which he was arguably the Albion’s best player. Big things are now right expected of the Malian midfielder and so far, he is very much living up to expectations.